Whenever cargo is transported on a moving vehicle it is essential that the cargo be securely attached to the vehicle. Without secure attachment between the cargo and the vehicle, shifting or other movement of the cargo may occur as the vehicle moves, leading to damage to the cargo or even to accidents in which not only may the cargo be damaged, but people may be injured.
There are many methods for attaching cargo to vehicles, most of the methods depending upon the nature of the cargo and the kind of vehicle transporting the cargo. One of the most common methods of securing cargo, and one that is both useful and effective, is to strap the cargo to the vehicle, or to a rack on the vehicle, with one or more cargo straps. For instance, cargo may be supported on a vehicle rack and one or more straps are connected between the cargo and the rack to provide a secure attachment and to prevent undesired movement of the cargo during transport.
The strap method is used with many kinds of cargoes and vehicles, from logs carried on logging trucks to relatively smaller cargo items such as boxes carried in the bed of a standard pick up truck. The use of straps to tie cargo to a supporting structure is particularly useful with relatively lighter cargoes such as ladders, hand trucks, wheelbarrows and other light industrial tools that are attached to racks for pick up trucks or car-top racks for automobiles.
However, a common problem encountered with using straps to secure cargo to a vehicle is that the straps are often misplaced or lost, or are not readily available when the time comes for strapping the cargo to the rack. As anyone who has experienced a lost cargo strap knows, a lost strap can be a significant inconvenience, as an inordinate amount of time can be spent hunting for the lost strap. In addition, when securing cargo to a rack it is often necessary to have the strap immediately available at the time the cargo is loaded onto the rack, for instance when the strap itself provides part of the support system for the cargo. As an example, ladders are often transported on pick up truck racks. Occasionally the ladders are attached to the vertical support posts that support the upper portions of the rack, with the ladder oriented such that the rungs extend in the vertical direction and the longitudinal axis of the ladder oriented along the length of the truck. If there are no shelves on the rack to support the ladder, the straps that secure the ladder to the rack may also serve the function of supporting the ladder on the rack.
When this kind of attachment is used it is necessary to strap the ladder in position on the rack at the same time it is lifted into place. This can be difficult since the ladder may be heavy and unwieldy, especially if only one person is lifting the ladder into position. As such, it is necessary to have the attaching straps in hand and ready when the ladder is lifted into position. Obviously, if the straps are not readily available or are misplace, the ladder may need to be lowered from the rack while the straps are located.
In addition to the problems associated with lost or misplaced straps, another common problem is not having enough straps on hand to adequately secure the load to the vehicle. This problem is likely a result of the problem just described--lost or misplaced straps. That is, since straps are often lost, there may not be enough of them available when the time comes for them to be used. Regardless of the source of the problem, it is inconvenient to have too few straps available, and may lead to a load being inadequately secured on a vehicle.
Thus, there is a need therefore for improved apparatus for securing cargo to supports, and particularly apparatus that eliminates the problems associated with lost securing straps and not having enough straps to secure the cargo. In addition, there is a need for a securement apparatus that permits cargo to be locked in place to reduce theft of the cargo.